mkuvy wrote:I've made and paid a second copy of the order at BEVRC, and sent BEVRC a clear message that I expect them to cover any difference between what I've paid for the original order and what PayPal will return to my account. Now several weeks of waiting is ahead.

BEVRC confirmed that they will cover the refund should anything go wrong with PayPal.

PayPal has reversed the transaction and credited the payment back to my credit card. I have, probably, lost 3-5% of the payment on the currency exchange rates (as the card is attached to NZD account and the payment was in USD), but I can live with that.

Meanwhile, the second copy of the BEVRC order has arrived all nicely packed. The components all look as expected, but have not yet tried to see if they actually work. I've opted for Sirius FPV plane in the end, but not sure if I'm going to use it for my setup. I currently have a well-modified Easy Star, and its foam is of better quality. Admittedly, Sirius has much more room inside.

RCModelReviews wrote:They don't have much stock of anything at the moment either. I wanted to buy a SkyWalker for my FPV series -- out of stock!

The X8 - out of stock

Most of what I wanted: out of stock.

What's going on there?

What's going on INDEED! Not just bevrc but (seemingly) all the Chinese website-businesses ATM... (OBTW, why is their web site always such a kludge? Incomplete pics; very large spaces with nothing in them; contradictory text on the same subject; way out of date text etc. etc.)

Bevrc - still no X8, none until "April." Skywalker still "SOLD OUT"; tho you can get the one with the 1900mm new wing for $130US.Goodlucksell - thhhhhhhhhDealExtreme - thhhhhhhhhHK -ALL of what I want to order is on "BACKORDER". An ARF plane that I want to order out of stock for more than 30 days with "STOCK: -3" - Turnigy 9x 9ch transmitter that I want to order out of stock for more than 30 days with "STOCK: -18"...

Has it all been a giant suck to get our credit card numbers and hooked on them as suppliers (by the short & c...)?

I think we may be seeing the beginning of the end of "cheap Chinese" -- something I have predicted for a while.

The US dollar has slumped badly against most currencies, which means that the Chinese are simply not earning as much from their exports as they once did.

Combine this with rapidly increasing labor costs and you can see that many of those manufacturers will not be making money. If you're not making money then there's no point in assembling products.

I predict that there will be some significant price-hikes just around the corner as China seeks to compensate for the low US dollar and the cost of labour. When those price rises kick in we'll all feel the pain.

Perhaps the first sign of that is the Chinese companies pausing production so as to empty the supply chain and build demand. Then, when they start shipping again, people are going to have no option but to pay the higher prices or do without.

Anyone having issues with their website at the moment? I placed an order and have the usual "Order Confirmation" and "Order Update" after paying by PayPal. But now I cannot get on their website. Wonder if I need to cancel through PayPal. After being side tracked for the last 18 months I have finally found time to get the old FPV bird back in the air and ordered antennas and head tracking gear.

Update:Head tracker and Clover leaf antennae have arrived (over a week ago).Cloverleaves are far supperior to the standard antenna which come with the 5.8GH.Headtracker is magic and easy to setup with the cheap Turnigy. But I need better servos for pan and tilt: bit jurky.